Special Mission

Special Mission (PM2)

Our Special Mission (PM2) program has approximately 22 ships that provide operating platforms and services for a wide variety of U.S. military and other U.S. government missions.

Oceanographic and hydrographic surveys, underwater surveillance, missile tracking, acoustic surveys, and submarine and special warfare support are just a few of the specialized services provided to:

U.S. Fleet Forces Command

The Oceanographer of the Navy

Commander, Undersea Surveillance

The U.S. Air Force

Naval Sea Systems Command

Navy's Strategic Systems Programs Office

Naval Special Warfare Command

Commander, Navy Installations Command

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Commander, Submarine Force

Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet

Special mission ships are operated by civilian mariners who work for private companies under contract to MSC.

Ship Types

MSC operates seven chartered submarine and special warfare support ships for our Navy. Three ships support Naval Special Warfare Command. Four other ships support our Navy's submarine escort requirements while entering and leaving ports.

Oceanographic survey ships perform acoustic, biological, physical and geophysical surveys, providing much of the U.S. military's information on the ocean environment. These ships use multi-beam, wide-angle, precision sonar systems that make it possible to continuously chart a broad section of ocean floor.

Ocean surveillance ships directly support our Navy by using both passive and active low frequency sonar arrays to detect and track undersea threats.

Missile range instrumentation ships serve as platforms for monitoring missile launches and collecting data that can be used to improve missile efficiency and accuracy. These ships monitor foreign missile and weapons tests that may pose potential threats to air or surface navigation. They also monitor domestic weapons systems tests to provide valuable feedback to U.S. weapons systems designers.

MSC operates and maintains the Sea-based x-band radar platform, known as SBX-1 and is part of the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense System. The ocean-going vessel helps the United States and its allies defend against regional missile threats by carrying the world's largest phased-array X-band radar, which tracks, discriminates and assesses hostile ballistic missiles. The semi-submersible, self-propelled vessel serves as a mobile platform for dome-shaped radar.

Our Special Mission Program manages Harbor Tug Services on behalf of Navy Installations Command to support Navy ships worldwide. The contracts cover operations at most Navy locations, including: San Diego; Kings Bay, Georgia; Mayport, Florida; Pearl Harbor; Norfolk, Virginia; New London, Connecticut; Guam and others. MSC's operation of these commercial contracts frees up military personnel for their war-fighting missions.